As the evening drones on, I’m starting to find solace in being this invisible, letting my shoulders droop down from my ears. I’m beginning to think it’s not so bad, that maybe I can survive this, when one irritating voice tears through me like a knife and forces me to look up from my plate.
“Hello, devilish daughter of mine.”
I lock my eyes with Dad. “Hello, Satan.”
Alfie and Fiz both choke on their laughs, not that my dad pays any attention. Instead, he lowers his bushy brows to glower at me. He looks older. I didn’t really see him as I was wheeled out of the cell, still catatonic and fuzzy. But now I can see him. His forehead wrinkled, crow's feet prominent at the corners of his dark eyes. He looks weathered and pathetic.
“Still not had that disrespect beat out of you, I see.” He turns to Caden. “I hope she’s not been too much trouble for you, boy. I know it’s only been a few days but I know what a nightmare she is.”
My chest fills with pride. Despite the torture, I used to get such a kick out of making his life a misery.
Still, the air around me tightens and my back stiffens as I wait for Caden to prove just how right my father is.
But instead, a steady hand comes down on my thigh and just rests there, a move visible to my dad as his eyes flicker down to our laps.
“Actually,” Caden says, disdain clear in his voice, “Elodie and I have been getting on like fuel to a fire. There’s a scorching heat between us that’s made it impossible to breathe during my cleanse. It’s been delightful having her around.”
I almost turn to gape at him but then remember we’re faking it. Of course. I keep my scowl on my dad as his eyebrows shoot to his receding hairline.
Fiz chimes in. “Yeah, could cut their sexual tension with a medical scalpel.”
I disguise my amused chuckle as a cough. It’s even harder when I see how displeased my father is.
“Yeah, well, give it time. She’s a nuisance. And violent. My word of warning, lad, don’t take her shit. She thinks she’s better than she is. If she wasn’t so good at her job, I’d have binned her off long before I lost my boy.”
This second mention of Lewis only surges a sharp spike of anger up my spine. He shouldn’t have the right to speak about my brother. Not when he gave up on him so easily.
But Caden’s voice comes in and it strangely acts as an ointment, blunting the edges of the spikes before it pierces my heart. “Sir, with all due respect, this is my future wife you’re talking about. She may be your daughter, but she is mine now. And I will not tolerate slander towards her.” I turn, his voice too threatening and ballsy to not gawk at him. “As I’ve just said, I’m delighted with her. Whatever she did in your presence is none of my business. And what she does in mine… or anyone else’s from now on, for that matter, is no longer yours. Thank you for coming, enjoy the food.”
My eyes are so wide and haven’t blinked for so long they’re starting to sting. Caden sits there so assured, emanating a type of calm that screams power and authority. I’m in awe for a moment.
My dad’s awkward clearing of his throat knocks me from it and I turn back to see him straightening his tie instead of heeding Caden’s clear dismissal. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you then. She’s a goddamn travesty. I’ve always said it should have been her.”
Caden’s grip tightens on my thigh enough to make me gasp. He immediately loosens, as if he wasn’t aware he was doing it. Alfie’s hand comes back to my other thigh, and I look down intomy lap, seeing two strong hands on my body, and I can’t help feeling a little protective shield form around me.
“Well, it wasn’t,” Caden says, venom flowing into his raspy voice, “and I’m glad she’s here. I may respect you, Mr Valor, purely because of our alliance, but if you say one more thing about my fiancé that belittles or upsets her in any way, I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”
Dad looks like he wants to argue, he wants to stand his ground, but ultimately, we’d be nothing without the Blackwoods, and he knows it. Drago and the Blackwoods – and me – got him out of his stupid predicament that nearly cost us everything. He’s beneath Caden. It’s the first time I’ve realised it. And it gives me a thrill.
He just snorts and backs away. “Have a good night.” Then he turns and walks towards a group of people I don’t know.
My chest drops and my hands fly to my face.
Caden immediately lets go of my leg, but Alfie’s remains. He leans into me again. “Don’t listen to him, he’s a cunt.”
The flippant way he says it makes me huff a flat laugh, despite the tightness in my chest. I drop my hands. “You don’t know the half of it.”
I meet his eyes and watch them drift to my body. “Yeah, I do.”
Right. He saw me naked. He saw the damage. He doesn’t need to know that not all of those injuries were put there by my dad.
I look over to Caden, tears stinging my eyes. I want to thank him, but he didn’t say all that because he cares about me or because he wants to protect me. He said it because it’s his job, because of his reputation, his status. He can’t let anyone talk badly about anyone in his life. It’s his principles. It’s nothing to do with me. So I look at him for a second, thanking him in my mind anyway because it makes me feel better, and when he doesn’t meet my gaze, I close my eyes and turn away again.
Now my head’s up, I take my first proper look around. Dad’s now sitting at the far table, chatting to some woman who’s got a dramatic, flirty smile on her face. I risk scanning further, heart hammering in my chest. But I don’t see him. I don’t see the masked man.
As soon as I let relief steady my breathing, it’s yanked away at the sight of movement coming this way. It’s almost like I sense who it is, like his energy is darker than everyone else. Worse than Drago’s. Worse than anyone I’ve ever met.
I force myself to turn and my stomach plummets. My blood runs cold and sweat forms all over my body like I’ve been plunged into a bath.
